How representative is
Congress?
Theories of Representation
‘Acting for’
• e.g. the ‘how’ of representation and should
that representation be local (James
Madison) or national (Edmond Burke).
– The reactionary theory of representation
(Hobbes and Hamilton) ie: order and
authority is paramount and whilst input is fine,
public officials should not feel particularly
checked by the popular will , since they are of
superior knowledge and judgement.
………………………
• The conservative theory of
representation
( Burke, JS Mill and Madison) i.e. the
people chose their representatives from an
elite group and trust them to do the job, if
they are unsatisfied they vote to remove
them at the next election. This is also
known as the trustee model of
representation.
……….
• Liberal theory of representation (Locke
and Jefferson) i.e. this theory is based on
the concept of equality. Unlike the
previous theories which are elitist, the
liberal theory is pluralist. Here the
representatives act as a kind of
messenger, rather than a policy maker per
se. This is also known as the delegate
theory of representation
……………………….
• The party theory of representation i.e. there
are strong, centralised, disciplined and
ideologically distinct political parties. The people
endorse a manifesto and the winning party have
a mandate to govern and carry out all their
policies during their time on office until the next
election. This is also known as the ‘mandate
model of representation’
In summary, in the trustee model it is the politician’s
views that are important. In the delegate model, it
tis the people’s views that are important. In the
mandate model it is the party’s views that are
important.
‘Standing for’
• e.g. the ‘who’ of representation. Often
referred to as the ‘resemblance model of
representation’: to what extent the
representatives resemble those they
represent. The usual categories are
gender, age, religion, race, profession and
geographic region.
Congress and gender – The facts
• American women were admitted to Congress in 1916, Jeanette
Rankin and in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment
American women were guaranteed the right to vote in the elections
to Congress. Since then there has been 209 and only 6 states
have failed to elect a woman to the House – Alaska, Delaware,
Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota and Vermont. 35 women have
served in the Senate, 13 were first appointed e.g. Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska, who was appointed to the 108th Congress on the resignation
of her father and she was then elected in 2004 in her own right.
• Three states are represented by two women, in the Senate –
California (Barbara Boxer D), Maine (Olympia Snowe R) and
Washington.
• As recently as 1979, there were only 17 women in Congress and in
110th Congress, women constituted just 16% of each of the
chambers.
Congress and gender – the
explanation
• Few women in the recruitment pool – most
have come from the lower houses of state
legislators, and only 23% of these lower
chambers are women. Numbers are not
increasing in state legislatures a s much as they
are nationally, even with the Democrats ‘Year of
the Woman’ 1992
• Few women candidates are chosen – Emily’s
List - see handout – 1985. Tis is an acronym
for Early Money is like Yeast
Congress and gender – the
implications
•
Women representatives are more likely to take a feminist stance on
‘women’s issues’ and will actively seek to promote legislation to improve
women’s status. There is also the issue of ‘surrogate representation’ where
women reps represent women nationally, beyond their own constituency.
Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe both adhere to this principle. There is
no accountability for this form of representation though. These two women
remain accountable to California and Maine only.
•
Women representatives are not a uniform bloc however. The have their own
partisan and ideological commitments of course.
•
There is a bipartisan group called the Caucus for Women’s Issues e.g.
they were successful in their support of the creation of federal protections
against domestic violence and sexual harassment. This caucus is subject
to the change in ideology of new woman members and has also been
involved in the legislation to ban gay marriage and promotion of pro- life
policies, such as the ban on late-term abortions.
more implications………………..
• Leadership – 110th Congress 2007;
Speaker of the House was Nancy Pelosi of
California and two Senate Standing
Committees wre chaired by women –
Environment and Public Works – BBoxer
and Rules and Administration by Dianne
Feinstein. In the House Louise Slaughter
of NY became chair of the prestigious
House Rules Committee
Congress and race – The Facts
• African Americans(AAs)and Hispanics are by far
the largest 2 racial minority groups in the USA
(AAs12.3% nationally but in Washington DC
they are 58%
• The return of AAs to Congress is linked to their
representation within the population of the
various states e.g. Illinois has returned the most
and it is the 12th most AA state, New York, the
3rd most representatives and the 10th most AAs
per population
Congress and race – The
explanation
• No state has a majority of blacks who vote
therefore it is increasingly difficult to be elected
on the black vote. However Barack Obama and
Carol Braun have both succeeded in Illinois.
• Since 1990, new Congressional redistricting
has changed this and these districts became
known as ‘majority-minority districts’, therefore
since 1992 AA numbers in the House have
increased, from 26 to 38, bringing the AA
representation in the House to 9% only slightly
below the national representation of 12%
Congress and race – the
implications
•
The Congressional Black Caucus are entirely Democrat, that makes them very
united, more so than the Women’s Caucus.
•
AAs in Congress are even more liberal than their Democrat colleagues e.g. 88%
vote in line with the ADAs rating.
•
AAs in Congress also serve as role models in government
•
There is some degree of ‘surrogate representation’, but this is less pronounced
than t is for women, particularly since the introduction of minority-majority districts
•
Because AAs in Congress are exclusively Democrat they are disadvantaged during
Republican dominance, having no leadership positions in either chamber 1995-2007.
However since 2007, James Claybourne is House Minority Whip and John Conyers
Chair of the House Judiciary Committee
Hispanics in Congress
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hispanics make up 12.5% of the population, and are the largest ethnic
minority overtaking AAs for the first time.
The hispanic is a young community, they are less likely to be registered
voters and even then are less likely to turn out, only 45% compared to 61%
of other eligible adults.
They are a fast growing population
There are currently 23 members of the House, just under 6% of total
membership, 20 are Democrats and 3 are Republicans. There are 3
Hispanic Senators, Robert Menendez, Ken Salazar, and Mel Martinez. It
has a n exclusively Democrat Caucus and pursues a surrogate stance.
An alternative group is the Hispanic Conference, which is exclusively
Republican, formed in 2003. It’s aims were to support the War on Terrror,
Free Trade, tax relief to families and over 2 million Hispanic and Portuguese
owned small businesses, and educational choice for all.
Since 2007, Soloman Ortiz has been Chair of the House Armed Services
Subcommittee on Readiness.
Representation is still well below their national population, but this may
change as the community ages and grows.
Other representational factors
•
•
•
•
•
In terms of race Congress is fairly representative
In terms of gender Congress clearly looks nothing like America
In terms of age Congress is decidedly elderly
In terms of education, Congress is highly educated
In terms of religion, christian churhes are well represented, with
Catholics dominating, followed by Baptists and Episcopalians. Jews
are well represented and Keith Ellison is the first muslim elected to
the House in 2006.
• In terms of geographic region, representation is exactly as
prescribed by the Founding Fathers in their bicameral compromise,
with over representation of the smaller states in the Senate and
representation by population more apparent in the House.
Representing constituents
• House members serve their constituents more
diligently than their Senate counterparts. Why? 2
year term, locality rule, house districts tend to
more homogenous than Senate ones e.g. Boxer
has to represent 34 million Californians spread
across 164,000 square miles, whereas Loretta
Sanchez has a district of 55 square miles, in the
heart of Orange County, 640,000 total –
65%Hispanic and – 100% urban
The methods
• Members of Congress can represent their constituents in
a number of ways
– On the floor of the chamber making speeches and voting,
2006 there were 543 votes in the House and 279 in the Senate.
The way a representative votes is influenced by many factors
and difficult choices have to be made. The delegate/trustee
debate is also very relevant here and each bring their own
difficulties - see Richard Fennos theory of constituents as a
series of concentric circles. A member is rarely one or the other
exclusively
– Seek assignment to committees and subcommittees
– Provide a range of services via their offices I their district
Summary
• The UK appears to fit more witht eh mandate model of
representation , whereas the US Congress seems to fit more with a
mixture of delegate and trustee.
• In terms of resemblance the USA is not very representative
• In terms of the delegate/trustee model, the USA would seem that
some members are some of the time.
• Many Americans hold something of a paradoxical attitude when it
comes to Congress.’ Throw the bums out…..they’re not bums!
• Re-election rates are 95% in the House and between 85% and 95%
in the Senate.
TASK
Complete task 1.6 for next lesson, use the guidance provided.